Today I launched the site from the shortcut again – but this time the experience was somewhat different. So different that I have to take away all the points I previously awarded to the team. The problem is that when I launched the site today, I had the door emphatically slammed in my face.

With the release of version 30, Firefox becomes the latest browser to support CSS Blend Modes (Chrome has had them for a few months, and support is on the way in Safari 8). But what are blend modes? What is blending, for that matter?

If you’ve ever used image editing tools like Photoshop, Sketch or GIMP, you’ll probably already be familiar with blend modes. For everyone else, they are methods of mixing two visual layers so that the two are combined. This could be an image layer with a colour layer, or two image layers.

This subject of this post is the redesign of my employer’s website, Preloaded.com, and is cross‐posted from the Preloaded blog with permission.

At the beginning of the redesign project we agreed some design tenets: the new site should be a best‐practice showcase and an opportunity to learn and use some of the latest web technologies; and it should employ existing services where practical.

Aside

I’ve updated my Speaking page to include more conferences, more videos, and a little on my speaking requirements and preferences. I’m planning to cut down on the number of talks I give in 2014 (twelve is too many), but am always open to interesting offers and opportunities, so please get in touch if you’re organising an event.